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In public interest! Now, no traffic disruption during CM travel in Assam

The Assam Cabinet on Friday took slew of decisions to end public inconvenience, including reducing the size of carcade of the chief minister. The Cabinet also decided to stop felicitations for chief minister and ministers at official meetings, besides deciding on civic polls, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Twitter. Now, chief minister's carcade will be limited to 6 cars within Guwahati Metropolitan area and 12 in other areas/districts, excluding escort and pilot. During road travel of the chief minister, traffic will not be disrupted beforehand. If required may be paused for a period of exceeding two minutes. Movement of ambulance will get precedence over the chief minister's carcade and will not be stopped. Also, the practice of felicitations and offering gifts to chief minister, ministers and senior officials during any official function will be discontinued. However, visiting dignitaries will be provided with proper courtesy.

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FAITH suggest to leverage top 10 cross country travel rank of India for repositioning tourism for gaining post COVID market share

New Delhi : FAITH, the policy federation of all the national associations representing the complete tourism, travel and hospitality industry of India (ADTOI, ATOAI, FHRAI, HAI, IATO, ICPB, IHHA, ITTA, TAAI, TAFI) has given reference to Ministry of Tourism of a global travel ranking for cross – country road travel, where India has been ranked 10 out of 118 countries on multiple parameters such as heritage sites, bio- diversity, landscapes, average travel cost etc. India’s ranking is higher than traditional tourism countries. FAITH has suggested to MoT that this top ranking can probably form a vital cornerstone of India’s post COVID global repositioning and marketing campaigns. This ranking can be leveraged both for inbound and domestic to demonstrate the inherent tourism attractiveness of our country and enable for gaining post COVID tourism market share.

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Nearly 20 million footfalls recorded at Mumbai airport in CY 2021

Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) has registered nearly 20 million passenger movements in CY 2021. The airport has witnessed passenger traffic slowly inching towards pre-Covid times in 2021. CSMIA mentions that the increase in passenger traffic signals the passenger confidence in the safety initiatives and protocols adopted by the airport. In CY 2021, CSMIA has played host to a total of approximately 19.8 million passengers with 1,60,000 flights across domestic and international destinations. During this time, the airport has catered to approximately 17.4 million domestic passengers across 1,40,000 flights and over 2.43 million international passengers across 17,290 flights, thus witnessing domestic passenger traffic representing around 88 per cent of the overall passenger movement from CSMIA. This was driven by the recovery in domestic air travel, which also saw the airport registering an increase of over 117 per cent passenger traffic during July to December 2021 with around 10.9 million passengers as against approximately 5 million passengers in the same period in 2020. In terms of international load, the last three quarters of CY 2021 cumulatively witnessed around 1.9 million passengers, which is approximately 174 per cent more than that of 2020 where over 0.7 million passenger footfalls were registered. CSMIA, handled a record single day passenger movement of around 1,09,000 travellers in December 2021, transiting through the airport, which was the highest since March 2020. This record traffic in a single day is a testament of passengers’ rising confidence in CSMIA’s initiatives towards passengers’ well-being and improved customer experience. Delhi, Goa, Bengaluru continued to retain the spot as the top three domestic destinations from Mumbai with the highest number of passengers in CY 2021. The middle eastern countries – Dubai, Doha, Sharjah were the top three international destinations with high passenger traffic to and from CSMIA in CY 2021 as compared to 2020 where Dubai, London-Heathrow and Newark were the top 3 international destinations. Armenia, Miami, Houston, Glasgow, Nashik, Gwalior, Bareilly, Sindhudurg are among the 23 domestic and international destinations which were added in CY 2021 to provide direct connectivity to passengers to their desired destination with ease. Moreover, Biman Bangladesh and Garuda Indonesia airlines commenced their maiden operations from CSMIA last year. CSMIA currently acts as a gateway to 62 domestic destinations and 33 international destinations for passengers from Mumbai.

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We provide rural travel agents the freedom to function independently: Dilip Modi of Travel Union

Travel Union is a relatively new entrant into the online travel agency business. Could you explain the rationale for launching the new company at a time when the travel business is facing innumerable challenges and a number of retail agencies are closing down business? Post the outbreak of the pandemic, we observed that the rural travel sector suffered the most due to infrastructure challenges and limitations. There is a massive shortage of booking counters in rural India as compared to its urban counterparts. Owing to this, rural travellers have been suffering a lot while planning their travel during essential times or business, leisure trips. In rural India, digital travel apps are yet to see high adoption due to lack of digital literacy and skepticism around online financial transactions. With lack of booking infrastructure and low consumer confidence on direct digital travel transactions, we strongly feel rural travel will always need an assisted play for some time till we don't see the rural consumer evolving to a digital transacting environment. While the pandemic has created major disruptions, it is extremely important to address the long prevailing challenges of the rural travel sector and build solutions for the rural customers that will help the sector to rewamp faster. Travel Union started its journey in the pandemic when the sentiments in travel retail were low, with an intent to start fresh as a new proposition offering benefits that never existed before and help revive the industry. Travel Union provides ‘Zero Investment On boarding’ to travel agents, Online cancellation adhering to the current scenario where uncertainty prevails, Instant refund that ensures the operating funds of a travel agents don’t get blocked, 24x7 customer assistance at any point in time for rural India where travel related queries are way different from the urban perspective, Multilingual app on android and IOS along with a web portal for ease of access. Travel agent business in India has traditionally been city-oriented and continues to be so to a large extent. In that context, what kind of opportunities do you see in empowering the agents in villages digitally and democratising the travel sector? Travel agent business in India has traditionally been city-oriented because the existing players in the industry haven’t focused on the rural customers. This is due the lack of information available about rural customers as well as the challenges existing in the sector including low digital adoption and skepticism for digital offerings. We launched Travel Union with a mission to support, digitally empower and build a leading travel agent business community in rural India serving the 1 billion Bharat population. At Travel Union, we are encouraging existing and aspirational ‘nanopreneurs’ to become financially independent through our Zero Investment Onboarding. Travel Union members get better control of inventory, variety of listings from service providers, and customised travel solutions as the platform shows all available price options for a particular offering and provides Travel Union members the lowest prices they can offer to their customers. It provides inventory, competitive prices, and state-of-the-art technology directly from airlines, railways, hotels, trips, wholesalers and aggregators. The platform also allows for online cancellations and refunds, eliminating the long wait customers usually have to endure. Members enjoy the benefit of earning high margins due to direct booking options available with multiple travel service partners. Additionally, we are also educating them on the use of technology and the digital media to facilitate better engagements and offer customized solutions to customers based on their unique travel requirements. A large section of small town agents are sub-agents of major city-bound consolidators. What kind of transformation do you try to bring in their life? Travel Union provides rural travel agents the freedom to function independently and choose the best possible alternatives to earn profits and also offer the best possible deals to their customers by starting their own business without having to work as sub agents. Travel Union members get direct access to multiple service providers whose offerings can address the travel needs of rural customers. What supplier base has Travel Union been able to create to service the demands of your member agents since your inception? Travel Union is a super aggregator platform that aims to democratise rural travel services by providing a platform to existing local travel agents, small or medium sized business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs towards serving the travel needs of rural customers at every district, block and gram panchayat level. The platform provides access to over 500 domestic & international flights from all major airlines, 10,000+ bus operators like Red Bus & Abhi Bus and 10 lakh+ hotels to our members and consumers. What kind of membership base and turnover are you targeting in the first year and going forward? Travel Union augments the income and growth opportunities for the existing travel agents, offer an additional and steady stream of income for small business owners, provide new business opportunities for the aspirational entrepreneur and create a network of reliable Travel Union Members (travel agents) to assist the rural consumers. We currently have over 50,000 travel union members and we are aiming to significantly increase this number this year on the back of our technological expertise and strong foothold in rural India. Whom do you see as your immediate competition and how do you plan to build your USP? The rural travel industry is extremely unstructured with no players focussing on the segment. Our USP is our rural focused approach as we are India’s first rural B2B travel tech platform catering to rural travel requirements and building customised solutions for India’s rural population. Rural travel industry has a huge potential and there is enough space for multiple players to enter the sector and serve the travel needs of rural customers.

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Goa governor assures tourism revival, urges citizens to vote

Stating that the tourism industry has been badly hit due to the pandemic, Goa governor, PS Sreedharan Pillai,said that there will be a healthy revival in the days to come. “Goa is committed to achieve the goal of being a welfare state which will assure minimum food, shelter, health and education to every citizen for their prosperity,” he said. He was speaking after unfurling the national flag on the occasion of 73rd Republic Day held at Campal, Panaji on Wednesday. “The natural beauty and tranquility of the state, vibrant culture and hospitality of the people, flora and fauna have contributed to the growth of tourism in the state,” he added. As the state readies for the assembly elections, Pillai appealed to all the voters of Goa to enthusiastically participate in the voting process by following Covid protocols strictly. He also urged the people to pledge to remain faithful to the Constitution of the country in letter and spirit. Pillai said that it is the duty of every citizen to protect the sovereignty of the nation. “Over 98 per cent of the eligible population in Goa have been fully vaccinated, including people in the 15-18 age group and booster dose for people above 60 years,” he said. He lauded the efforts of the doctors, frontline and healthcare workers for their remarkable service towards protecting people against the pandemic. The governor also underlined the achievements of the state to its credit such as highest per capita income, third place in the country for the human development index, best performing state for the third time in food safety index and best for its infrastructure. Goa is the only state to have achieved two SDGs - Clean Water and Sanitation and Alternative clean energy, he said.

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Austria Updates COVID-19 Entry Requirements for All Travellers

Travellers who have already received a booster dose do not need to present a pre-entry test when reaching Austria, the latter’s authorities have revealed. On the other hand, those who have only completed their primary vaccination but have not received an additional vaccine dose must complete a pre-travel clearance registration, provide a vaccination certificate as well as a negative PCR test, which must be taken within 72 hours before arrival, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports. “When travelling to Austria, proof of double-vaccination/recovery is required as well as a negative Covid test or a booster jab,” the statement of Austria’s official travel portal reads. In addition, the same has explained that starting from February 1, the country will shorten the validity of vaccination certificates from 270 days to 180 days. This means that vaccination certificates of persons who have not received a booster shot will be valid only if the last vaccine dose has been taken within the last 180 days. Nonetheless, it has been explained that those who have completed their vaccination within the last 270 days are still permitted entry to the country but not allowed access to the majority of places while in Austria. Differently from adults, the authorities noted that vaccination certificates would remain valid for 210 days for persons under 18. “From February 1, 2022, two-dose vaccinations are only valid for 180 days in Austria (exception: 210 days for under 18-year-olds). However, for ENTERING, the 270 days remain in place. The booster vaccination is valid for 270 days in both scenarios,” the Austrian authorities explained. As soon as a person receives a booster shot, the validity of their certificate will get extended for another 270 days, meaning that they will be able to travel to Austria for another nine months without having to follow additional entry rules. Regarding the requirement to receive an additional vaccine dose, it has been highlighted that children under 12 are exempt from it. Nationals of the countries mentioned above can now enter Austria without having to follow the quarantine requirement, provided that they have completed their vaccination process, have recovered from the virus within the last 180 days, or have received a booster shot. Nonetheless, travellers from these countries are still required to present a negative test. The requirement to present a test upon arrival applies only to those who have not received an additional dose.

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